


Pandemic

by valantha



Category: Revolution (TV)
Genre: Board Games, Gen, LJ 60 prompts in 60 days, Pre-Series, post-Blackout
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-22
Updated: 2013-09-22
Packaged: 2017-12-27 09:03:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/976942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valantha/pseuds/valantha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aaron was expecting a ‘Guys’ Night In’ with Ben, what he got was something completely different. This is for the LJ 60 prompts in 60 days: Contagion.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pandemic

**Eleven Years after the Blackout**

_Thud thud thud._

Maggie looked up from her herbal inventory at the sound of someone knocking at the door. She jotted a mental note that she needed more stinging nettle before turning to the door.

She opened the door to a sheepish-looking Aaron Pittman, he had recently attempted to shave – his jawline a tapestry of nicks, but none looked severe enough for a doctor.

"Is Ben home?" he asked much in the way the neighborhood boys would ask her if Elliot could come out and play.

"No, actually. He left at dusk, said he had do to something important but that he'd be back by morning," Maggie said. She'd thought it was a bit odd, what important things did an irrigation expert need to do in the middle of the night? But they'd only been seeing each other a few weeks, so it really wasn't her place to question.

"Oh; that's weird," Aaron said quietly, almost to himself. Louder he asked, "How's Danny doing?"

"Better. He's breathing easier, and he's sleeping now," Maggie replied.

"Um, good," said Aaron. He stood awkwardly on Ben's porch and shifted his pack-strap slightly.

"Can I help you?" Maggie asked, wondering what Aaron was still doing here.

"Well, um, it's Ben and mine monthly Guy's Night, and since Danny had an attack today, I kinda though Ben would want to do something quiet at home, so I brought a board game and some herbal tea that almost sorta kinda takes vaguely chocoloately," Aaron scuffed at the porch flooring in punctuation. He looked so lost and lonely that Maggie's fortified heart melted a little. She supposed she should feel bad about taking Ben's time away from Aaron.

"Well, if you don't mind teaching me, maybe we could play," Maggie conceded.

Aaron's nicked face brightened and he swung his pack off of his back, "You're gonna like it. It's sorta medically."

Maggie grimaced behind Aaron's back. A medical board game? She hoped it wasn't Operation. Ah, the things one was forced to do when one was a member of a small community.

Maggie gestured to the worn burgundy couch, forgetting for a moment that Aaron had been a frequent visitor before Ben had found her.

Aaron began setting up an elaborate map board on the wicker-topped coffee table and then shuffled two decks of cards. This was no Operation.

Maggie walked over to the ancient wood-fueled stove to heat a kettle for Aaron's much acclaimed 'vaguely chocolatey' tea.

Once Maggie put the kettle on, she glanced back at Aaron. He had lit some extra candles and now was placing colored cubes all over the map. Yep. This was gonna be  _fun._

Once the board was set, Aaron pulled out a tin and walked over to the kitchen area. He rummaged around and grabbed a tealeaf strainer. A few minutes later Aaron and Maggie were settled on the couch, Aaron explaining the rules for a cooperative disease-fighting game. He explained how the player pieces moved, and how the four different diseases spread. He described that the short-term goal was to keep the diseases at a low level, and that the ultimate goal was to discover a cure for all of the diseases before everyone died. He expounded on the many ways everyone could die in a global pandemic.

Maggie took a sip of the tea, it was mostly licorice root with some mint leaves, and a few other herbs. It didn't really taste all that much like chocolate to her, but it was good never the less.

Aaron took his turn first, moving to New York and treating some of the disease there. Then he drew some cards from one stack that would help him discover cures for the diseases and drew cards from the other stack and added disease cubes to Seoul and Bogota. Aaron coached Maggie to head down to South America and start treating the disease there.

Maggie was surprised to realize how fun the game was, and how hard it was to  _not_  die. The game mechanic for how the disease spread was a bit simplistic, but accurate to a first approximation. If she had been an epidemiologist she might have had more issues with the game, but as it was she enjoyed it. The rush of fear when an epidemic or outbreak was triggered, the thrill of success when they discovered a cure, and the agony of defeat when they ran out of time, or the disease spread too much. She  _needed_  to keep playing until she beat the game.

Maggie learned that Aaron liked to play the hero and fly around the world treating only the most severe cases of disease, while she preferred to hoard her cards until she could discover a cure – and move them one step closer to achieving their ultimate goal of discovering all four cures.

It wasn't until some of the candles burnt out, and they wrapped up their fourth attempt to save the world, that Maggie realized she had been playing a board game with Aaron Pittman for hours!

Maggie laughed self-consciously and tucked a strand of hair back, "Wow, Aaron, this is quite some game."

"Yeah…" Aaron said, and then with puppy-like enthusiasm continued, "We can play it again sometime!"

Maggie smiled at Aaron and his eagerness, "Yes, that sounds fun, perhaps the three of us could play it sometime."

Aaron grinned a big goofy grin, made even more goofy by the nicks on his face, as he began packing the game away.

As Aaron left, pack in hand, Maggie just had to say, "I know shaving with a straight razor is tough, maybe you should spare yourself the trouble, and just let your beard grow."


End file.
